I remember like it was yesterday. Another Monday morning waking up in complete zombie mode trying to do all.the.things. At the time, I was an event planner for a $1M charity gala that was only months away, juggling the life of planning an event, coaching high school basketball, attempting to be a good wife, and dreaming of a vision God placed in my heart to pursue a business.

But how?

How in the world could I do it all? How could I find the time to do what was on my heart? And to be honest, what even was this dream on my heart?

I think so often life throws us these curve balls. We are on one path, yet dream of walking on another. We see what others are doing, and instead want that lifestyle over the one we’ve already got.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly fine to want change and to chase after your dreams. But I also believe you need to do it for the right reasons or it’ll never work for you.

After many early mornings of reading everything I could about starting a business, listening to every marketing podcast that existed and praying a lot, I stumbled upon Shanna Skidmore and a free mini workshop she offered called Bringing Basics Back.

This, was the answer to my prayers.

This woman was the mentor I was looking for to help show me the basic essentials I needed to focus on when starting my business. And for that, I will be forever grateful.

Stay Wild Love was built with a blueprint of clearly-defined services, pricing based on real numbers, and a plan to steward my profits without getting caught up in all the “should-dos” I saw everyone else doing in their business.

Did you know, that according to the Small Business Association (SBA) 20% of small businesses fail in their first year. And nearly 50% fail before hitting the five-year mark?

I think there can be many different reasons for this and Forbes goes on to explain their top five reasons they believe this to be the case. But can I be really honest here?

I believe that percentage tells a story of business owners not having a strong business blueprint that provides the clarity they need to stay on track with their passion—and the reason they ever dreamed of starting in the first place.

Related: A behind the scenes to my website launch

Let me share a little story.

When I first launched this website back in July, I was told not to go “quiet” after launching. That meant, I needed to share the launch via social, write weekly blog posts and continue to do everything I could to grow my email list.

And although these are vital needs for any business, that sounded like complete burnout to me and I didn’t want to become one of the 20% to fail.

So I ran opposite of what others told me I needed to do, and instead did what was essential for me and my business in year one.

1. Know Your Numbers

For me, this was understanding how many clients I needed each month and how much time I was willing to work in order to hit my sales goal.

I completely understand that not everyone’s business model is set up like mine. I have recurring clients each month which take out the need to market and sell for more. While those who have products or courses may need to focus on selling more often, it wasn’t a top priority for me year one in business. So why focus on something that would use up my time and energy on things that didn’t impact my bottom line?

This allowed me to focus my energy on what would pay the bills instead of spending hours crafting email sequences, writing blog posts and hours upon hours on social media.

And guess what, I hit my sales goal set when going through The Blueprint Model and increased that goal for 2019.

2. Focus your energy on those numbers

Knowing what numbers I needed to hit in order to run a sustainable business gave me the clarity I needed to put my head down and do the right kind of work. It meant saying no to really good opportunities and yes to even better ones.

2018 was a year I focused on client work over growing my own business. And although that may not be my business model forever, it was exactly what I needed year one of business.

I think too often we jump into a passion, turn it into a business and try to do all the things right away. Which only leads to burnout and not always performing our best work.

3. Become an expert at only a few things

By focusing my energy on my clients, I was able to see the things I love to do and the things I absolutely dread. As a virtual assistant, it can be so easy to tell your clients you have knowledge in everything, take on too much and burnout quickly.

But let me just say, you can have a strong passion for something, but the second you say yes to a task you dread doing (even if you have knowledge in it) you are on track to turning a job you once loved into another thing on your to-do list.

Early on, I said yes to too much because I was afraid of saying no, afraid of not hitting my sales goal and I wanted to be an expert in everything. This very mistake almost made me hate my business and join the 20% who fail in year one.

Being completely transparent, I hate handling client social media accounts and I HATE selling. But, I love being an editorial assistant, creating blog content, Pinterest strategy and running PR efforts.

WHAT IS THE LIFE YOU WANT TO LIVE?

Writing and relationships are my business’ love language. And you better believe 2019 is a year of expanding energy and becoming an expert in those areas.

If there is any encouragement I can give you it’s to stop looking at what others are doing and instead look at the life you want to live.

What do you need to make in order to live that life? Set your numbers based on that lifestyle and then trust the numbers.

Whether you are a dreamer, in year one of business or 5+ years in the making, knowing your numbers will bring you the clarity you need to know when to pivot your business, what to say yes or no to and where to focus your energy the most.

And that knowledge love, is the life-changing wisdom that will take you from barely surviving to living in your passion every single day.

Related: Read more about my story here.

LET’S CHAT!

Do you find yourself trying to do all the things and running into burnout in your life and business? Share in the comments below one thing you want to become an expert in for 2023 and one thing you can say no to in order to free up your time and energy to do the right kind of work at the right time.